


If Our Love Is Tragedy

by Amber_Flicker



Series: Hartmon Week - 2016 [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Earth-2, Hartmon Week 2016, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reverb kinda stalking E2 hart, and hartley gets into lots of fights as usual, dark!hartley, implied depression, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 07:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6973525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hartley never considered becoming something- a hero, a villain, whatever label you wanted to use. He was perfectly happy in the background, doing what he did best. </p><p>That was, until this happened. There's nothing more dangerous than someone with nothing to lose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Our Love Is Tragedy

He was dead.

_Cisco was dead._

Hartley had tried to tell him. He'd tried so hard, to tell him that eventually Zoom would betray him. He hadn't listened. And now he was gone. Hartley never considered becoming something- a hero, a villain, whatever label you wanted to use. He was perfectly happy in the background, doing what he did best. Cisco had tried to convince him to come work with him, to work under Zoom. It had been vehemently rejected every time. Hartley was, after all, working on technology to _defeat_ the monster. He certainly didn't want to help him. 

And he hated Cisco doing so either. With his powers he could have done anything, but he'd chosen to become a villain. Yes, Hartley knew his lover was the bad guy in this story, but that didn't make him love the man any less. He just didn't like his life choices.

Not only was he dead, but so was Ronnie. Hart hadn't known the man well, but being with Cisco he'd ended up running into him before, and when he wasn't murdering people for the speedster he was relatively easy to get along with. He was sure Frost felt exactly how he did right now. Like everyone whose loved ones were killed because of Zoom...

That's the moment something sparked in him. An idea came into being, plans began to form. Determination flooded his system and the need to get vengeance for everyone who'd died. 

His Cisco. And when Hartley Rathaway got focused on something, he didn't fail until he'd completed it.

He'd never considered becoming something. Until now.

***

_Two years ago._

"Oh my god. Not again." Hartley ineffectually put a pillow over his head to dampen the vibrations. Every. Night. He hadn't slept properly in weeks. Even his co-workers had started to notice, commenting on the circles under his eyes and questioning his wellbeing. This was ridiculous. Why did Zoom have to hire a meta with such awful abilities? Yet one more reason to get rid of the speedster. He cursed the particle accelerator.

After laying there for another 45 minutes, he was finally _done._ He was going to go out there and give that meta a piece of his mind, and it would work or he'd be dead. Either way he got rid of the annoyance. Was that slightly suicidal? Perhaps. But he was overtired, grumpy, and stubborn.

He threw on some pants and a dark jacket before he went outside, consequences be damned. He listened carefully, locating the source of the vibrations, and let a bit of power seep into his voice as he spoke. "Hey! Some people are trying to sleep!"

He waited. Then- "...I'm not stopping you from sleeping."

Hartley turned. He couldn't get a proper look at the man, he was in the shadows. "I beg to differ, mr. run-around-town-vibrating-at-ridiculous-frequencies."

"You shouldn't even feel it, not unless i'm trying to make you." The meta stepped out and- fuck. Villains were _not_ supposed to be that hot. He shoved the thought away.

"Yes, well. I _can_ , and it's very bothersome. Some of us have work to do, you know. We can't all stay up all night."

The man raised an eyebrow, and yes, maybe Hartley was pushing it a little. Maybe he should tone down the sarcasm (a symptom of insecurity, his mind unhelpfully supplied). He truly had no sense of self-preservation sometimes. "This _is_ work. I don't think Zoom will be happy with me not doing my job just because someone asked me to stop." He took a few steps forward, and Hartley resisted the urge to step back, defenses raised, but no attack came. The meta stopped merely a foot away, looking at Hartley with something akin to curiosity, an intelligence in his eyes he wouldn't have expected from someone who decided working for _Zoom_ was a good idea.. "But maybe you could convince me..."

Hartley was suddenly grateful he wasn't prone to blushing, because otherwise that certainly would have done it. He could deal with a little innuendo. "I think not." 

The meta didn't look disappointed, clearly having expected that response. He did, however, look a little impressed to have someone stand up to him like this. Hartley was once again struck by how attractive he was, even more so this close. Hartley usually hated others in his personal space, and if he was in any way rational at this point, he'd be more scared of what this person could do to him. But he was calm and if the man planned on killing him he probably would have by now. Hartley had always been good under pressure... 

"Fair enough." He finally stepped away, looking Hartley over once more, and walked off. Then, as if an afterthought, he looked over his shoulder, twinkling brown eyes catching sky blue ones.

"Reverb."

"Hmm?"

"My name." Then he was gone, disappearing into the shadows he came from, leaving Hartley with an odd feeling in his chest and wondering what the fuck just happened.

_End flashback._

 

***

Hartley hesitated, finally ringing the bell of the house. Truth be told, he'd never actually spent much time around Dante. Sure, he'd met him, there's no way he couldn't have as he was Cisco's brother. But they'd barely had a couple conversations alone, Cisco had always been around. Someone had to tell him, though. There was no one else to let him know that his brother was dead. He waited for a minute, but there was no response. He tried again. Nothing. Finally he decided to leave, just send a letter- the door opened. 

"...Hartley?" 

"Yes. Can I come in? It's important."

Surprise morphed to concern. "Yes, of course."

After they were seated, Hartley took a deep breath. It still _hurt_ to even think about. "It's about your brother."

"I haven't heard from him in a while." Dante examined him, the minor details in his expression, and frowned. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"He- Zoom. He killed him. Cisco is dead." Silence. No reaction. Then-

" _Fuck._ I told him this would happen! There's no way working for that monster could end well! And now he's gone and gotten himself killed." He went from shouting to a string of curses. Hartley simply waited it out. He'd felt the same way after he'd heard, after all. And, well, Cisco had been Dante's only surviving family. The man had just lost the last of his loved ones. After he'd finally calmed down, looking less angry and more ready to cry, Hartley made him sit down (before he fell instead) and put a cup of tea on the table. Dante looked up at him.

"We have to do something." His voice was raw.

Hartley stared back knowingly, a shadow in his eyes. "I plan to."

***

Turning Zoom's metas against him was a simple thing, at least for the few he had feeding him inside information. Tempest had never been one to be kept on a leash anyway, as uncontainable as the storms he created. And he had a suspicion that Smokescreen was being blackmailed, because she simply didn't seem the type to _want_ to work with Zoom. Perhaps in another situation, another place, they could have been friends... But Hartley refused to form attachments. He had more important things to do.

Weeks passed as he planned, worked on a way to destroy Zoom. It took a lot of work, but with vengeance driving him, eventually he had figured it out. He was ready. He'd chosen a place where there would be minor casualties during the fight. Which wouldn't truly last long, Hartley was not interested in messing around. Calling the speedster there was easy too. He had to do nothing except send out a brief twing on Zoom's frequency. Seconds passed. A shadow circled the area, then coalesced in front of him, merely a few yards away. Lightening crackled through the air, electricity Hartley could feel even back here, a constant buzzing that grated on his nerves. 

**"What do you want?"**

"Oh, I think you know." 

The monster tilted his head. **"He disobeyed me. He had to die."**

"And that's exactly why you have to die." Hartley kept his voice perfectly calm. The anger simmered, unreleased. 

**"You are not stupid. You don't believe you can kill me?"** A threatening tone had edged into the distorted voice. **"Where is your weapon?"**

Hartley smiled. 

_"You don't have any idea what you've done."_

Zoom shrieked. 

Hartley walked forwards, not afraid in the least. _"Fun, isn't it? That's you organs shearing apart."_

The dark speedster shook, almost collapsed, but held his ground, biting back the strangled cries. His hollow eyes stared at the glowing ones of his to-be murderer. He took the chance between words to reach out, blindingly fast, claws breaking skin as he squeezed around Hartley's neck. **"You're a meta."** He threw him to the ground, beating him down until he was breathing too hard to speak. **"You had to know I could kill you before you could kill me. You never had a chance. Why did you risk it?"**

Hartley grinned up at him, blood dripping from the wounds on his neck, bruises blossoming over the rest of him. _"There's nothing more dangerous than someone with nothing to lose."_

Zoom's powers weren't fast enough to let him escape the pain ripping through his insides. And they didn't heal him fast enough to stop him from falling to his knees. 

__"You made one fatal mistake, Zoom."_ _

"What-" The layers of vibration had mostly dissipated from his voice. 

_"Y o u k i l l e d t h e o n l y p e r s o n I g a v e a d a m n a b o u t"_

Zoom's scream echoed off the buildings around them, shattering windows and making anyone still around to watch cover their ears. Blood poured around of the head area of the suit, a pool of red creeping along the ground. 

Hartley looked down with dead eyes, having poured all of his misery and hatred and anger and _grief_ into his destroying words, nothing left inside but a gaping hole and a distinct lack of remorse for any of his choices. 

He left. 

*** 

_Two years ago._

"What are you doing?" Hartley jerked, choking back a surprised noise. He glanced over his shoulder at the intruder, glaring disapprovingly. Reverb just smiled back. 

"Don't sneak up on people like that. This is delicate work." 

"I see that." He didn't move from the position he'd taken up against the wall, watching Hartley intently. He wasn't dressed in his costume from that night. 

"Do you want something? How did you even get in here?" 

"How're you sleeping?" Reverb asked, clearly electing to ignore the questions. And, to tell the truth, Hartley had been sleeping better. The interruptions hadn't ceased entirely, but they were a lot rarer than before. He wondered if there was a reason, or if it was really just because he asked. The latter seemed unrealistic, yet here the meta was, sneaking in just to ask how he was sleeping. 

"Fine." The other stayed right where he was, even though he'd gotten his answer. That wasn't going to stop him, Hartley decided. He went back to working (on technology to stop Zoom, but Reverb didn't need to know that.) He went on like that for ten minutes before being interrupted. 

"That type of metal will shatter under the pressure." 

"I-" Hartley was about to protest, tell him he didn't know what he was talking about, but looked back over everything. He was right. "How did yo-" He turned, wanting to question him. He didn't get the chance. Reverb had disappeared again. He did that quite a lot, didn't he? Hartley shook his head, and began to adjust his creation. 

_End flashback._

*** 

He'd killed Zoom. The only question was: What now? The city was raving about 'the meta who defeated Zoom.' Hartley has always kept his powers well hidden... The only person who knew had been Cisco, and after he died there was no one. They'd had very similar abilities- but where reverb directed vibrations outward, pushing back everything in their path and strong enough to destroy, Hartley's were more frequency based. He could _feel_ the heartbeats around him, could hear the pitches and sounds others couldn't, and immediately know the frequency to tear them apart from the inside out. He'd only figured out how to use it through speaking, but he hoped to learn to use it in other ways. 

They didn't know who he was, he'd been too shadowed under his hood and there hadn't been that many people who stayed around when Zoom showed up. He could fade away, let the mystery remain unsolved and never worry about heroism again. No one would be able to find him. 

Hartley knew it was never going to stop. Another would, eventually, rise up to take Zoom's place. And with the disappearance of the Flash, there was no one equipped to protect the city. 

The police force was a joke, couldn't fight metas. The metahumans that had worked for the speedster were now uncontrolled, free to do as they liked without fear of being stopped, and though there were ones content to just live normal lives, not suddenly go evil... they weren't willing to use their powers to fight. 

No, he was the only one around to do anything about it. Hartley was the last defense against the potential take over of Central City. He could go. He could leave them to their fate and forget any of this had ever happened, his past but a memory. The question wasn't _What now._ The question was, was he willing to risk it all? 

*** 

_Two years ago._

"You know, breaking into people's houses and sneaking in to see them at work borders on stalking." Hartley said, getting over his surprise quickly. He put down his keys, then looked at his _visitor._ Reverb had made himself at home on Hartley's couch, as if he belonged there. 

"I'm surprised you're not bringing up the fact that it's illegal." He replied, an amused tone to his voice. 

"I chose not to dwell on the fact, considering who you are." 

_"Smart."_

"So i've been told." He checked the time. Hartley stayed late at work, so it was nearly 8:00 now. By this time Reverb should be out doing whatever it was Zoom made him do, not lurking around bothering him. And how long had he been here, anyway? "Is there something you wanted, or are you just taking up the hobby of bothering people?" 

"Why, were you planning on doing something? You don't have a social life, _Hartley._ " Ah. So he'd looked him up. "I would've thought you'd enjoy some company." 

"I like being alone." He did. Mostly. Okay, fine. That had struck a nerve. He just didn't easily form attachments. He was friendly, but professional and closed off, which was why he didn't have friends. He didn't make time for socializing. Most days he could ignore the loneliness. "And yes. I was planning on _sleeping._ " 

Reverb appeared to think that over, decide whether he would accept the excuse or not. "Have you eaten anything today?" 

That wasn't what Hartley was expecting. "I- what?" He asked, skeptically. Because where did that come from? 

"It wouldn't be very nice of me to let you go to bed without making sure you're taking care of yourself, would it?" 

" _Nice?_ Since when do you care about my wellbeing?" 

"Since I decided you were interesting." He smirked. "Now come on, let's go." 

"I never even answered your question!" Hartley protested, though he knew it was a weak defense. 

"Which is all I needed to know that you haven't." He grabbed Hartley by the wrist and dragged him along. Hartley didn't fight it. 

And that's how they had their first 'date.' 

_End flashback._

*** 

He picked up a name and took control. 

***

He was out wandering (aka: seeking out dangerous metas) when he felt it. Flickering, not fully formed, but there. The familiar thrum of power. It made his _stop._ His breathing cut off, as if it had been ripped from his lungs, and when he finally made himself move again, refilling him with deafening calmness. Hartley went straight to Zoom's old hideout, following the pulse of the time-space continuum being ripped open. 

Heart pounding, staring at the slowly opening breach, he felt the power emanating so deeply that he could almost _hear_ it. And when it fully opened, he stepped through, aware of who might be awaiting him on the other side. 

Shaking off the effects of the travel between realities quickly, he began to calculate. Wide open, indoors. Multiple ways to leave. He made an assumption that this was 'Earth-1', as the residents called it, because who else would care about opening a hole onto his earth? And- the people. Hmm. Just as he thought. His eyes lingered on _him,_ but... it wasn't his Cisco. He had to remember that. No one had said a word- though to be fair, it had taken less than a minute for Hartley to think all of this. Still, someone had to speak first. 

"Why did you reopen the breach?" He had to ask, who knows what kind of problems that could have for his city. It needed to be fixed or at least contained. He needed to assess the threat these people may hold. 

"...Why did _you_ come through the breach?" Confusion and wariness colored the familiar voice. Hartley felt a dull ache in his chest. He ignored it, and the question. 

"You opened something that could be dangerous. I want to know why." 

"We were expecting Zoom to come through." The Flash- of this world, at least- said. Zoom hadn't kept much information laying around, must've remembered the important stuff or had it somewhere Hartley hadn't discovered yet, but he knew the basics. He knew who was a hero and villain here, and the identity of the man in front of him. He knew it was incredibly different here, and that these weren't the people he knew. "But... well..." 

"...But you did." Cisco picked up where he left off. "Do you work for Zoom over there? I should've known-" 

"I do **not** work for him." He hissed, a faint glow to his eyes. He made it fade, but the damage was done. Everyone was even more defensive now. 

"Okay, okay. Calm down." 

Hartley resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I think we all need to calm down. I'm not a threat." 

"How are we supposed to know that? And you never answered my question- why did you come through instead of Zoom?" 

"Zoom is dead." 

"...What?" Hartley just raised an eyebrow. 

The Flash- _Barry_ \- spoke. "I don't understand. I thought no one was fast enough to stop him. Are you sure? How did anyone manage it..." 

"As sure as one can be when they ripped them apart from the inside out." He let it sink in, then continued. "It was less about being fast enough and more about 'what's the best way to kill a speedster.'" 

"You... you did it." Cisco's eyes were wide. 

Hartley clapped a couple times. "Oh look, he's catching on." 

"So you're what? Some sort of hero on Earth-2 now?" 

"Hmm. More like... anti hero. Vigilante. I kill the most dangerous criminals and leave the rest to the police." 

"You kill them?!" Barry exclaimed. Obviously he was very moralistic. 

"Would you rather I allow them to be sent to prison, so they can escape and kill more people?" He took a step forward. "Let me set something straight, mr. Allen. I do what has to be done." 

"But-" 

"And I will _not_ let another take the place of Zoom ever again." 

***

Needless to say, going through all that work only for a different target to come through the breach was surprising. But that someone being Hartley's doppelganger? _That_ was a shock. Cisco could see the way he quickly assessed the situation before turning his attention to them. He noted how there were differences in his outfit- straps and gleaming buttons and a flicker of green in the lining of his long coat. No gauntlets, either. 

Then they started talking and they found out this had been for nothing. Zoom was already dead, by Hartley's hand no less. Hartley, who was already turning out to be quite different than their earth's, who was some sort of unconventional vigilante. Whose eyes paused with a melancholy familiarity on Cisco. And he found himself drawn in, wanting to know more. What had driven the man to become what he was and why he looked at him the way he did. Why his voice was filled with such dark determination when he told them he wouldn't let another villain like Zoom take over. He had so many _questions._

That's how they formed a cautious alliance and brought him back to S.T.A.R. And Joe was going on about how that wasn't a good idea and they didn't really know anything about this Hartley, with Barry trying to reassure him. Caitlin and Harry looked on in exasperation, occasionally throwing a curious glance at E2-Hart. Who they really needed a better name for. Said man was standing off to the side, looking mildly irritated. Finally, Barry got Joe calmed down (though he still looked suspicious- he still didn't like their own Hartley, so this was even worse). 

"So... What do you call yourself? I mean, our Hartley gave himself the name Pied Piper, but what about you? Because saying Earth two Hartley every time we talk about to you is gonna get tiring real fast." 

"If you must refer to me as something besides my name... _Songsmith."_

"That's... actually pretty good." Hartley raised an eyebrow, and Cisco was quick to explain. "Oh, I give the names around here." 

"Hmm." He didn't continue after that, apparently perfectly content to let the others initiate conversation. 

"Last I checked, you were only working at Mercury labs. Not running around with powers and taking over a city." Harry was the first to speak. 

Hartley glowered. "I didn't take over. I'm protecting it." 

"Semantics." 

Before anyone could do a thing about it, Hartley was across the room, looking thoroughly ready to attack the other man. Barry stepped forward, but Cisco waved him back, wanting to let this play out. Maybe they could gain more insight into this Hartley. 

"As if you have any room to talk! We wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for you." It started as a hiss, then something else seeped into it, malice and pain, a darkness curling around it like smoke that made Cisco want to curl into himself and hide and he didn't understand where it was coming from. "You have _no idea_ the damage you've caused. All the lives that were taken and torn apart. What you did to us, the Monster you created." It could only be seen by those closest, at the right angle, but his eyes were glowing faintly. It stuck Cisco that this must be his Songsmith persona coming through. "It's your fault he's de-" 

Then it stopped. The glow, the odd, shivery-inducing feeling. The doppelganger stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide as if he felt suddenly lost. Caitlin stepped forward, reaching to touch his arm, but he stepped away, snapping a _"Don't"_ , and fled the room. Everyone (even Harry) looked stricken.

"Well, that went... not so good." Barry said awkwardly.

 

***

Hartley didn't know where he was going, but he had to _get away_ from them all. He almost slipped, lost control. He could have hurt the man, and as much as he would have loved to do just that, it wouldn't have been productive to his relationship with this world. He didn't want to make more enemies. God, it had been so tempting... A year ago he would've been horrified at himself for thinking something like that. Now he just felt numb.

He found himself in some sort of small room. He wasn't sure how far he'd wandered and he didn't care. Maybe that scene he'd caused had already destroyed any chance at an alliance with this earth. He was usually so rational, what got into him? 

The events of the day and seeing someone with the face of _him_ caught up to him.

***

_Two years ago._

 

"You really must stop doing this."

"Why would I? You're so fun when you're irritated." Which Hartley was. After all, he didn't expect to run into Reverb whilst getting his morning coffee. He didn't get the chance to actually buy said coffee, because the idiot already had it for him. Hartley would ask how he knew his coffee order, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. 

He sighed, but took the cup. He didn't respond to the prodding comment, instead walking back out. He could imagine the other meta's reaction now- annoyance at being ignored. It was obvious that no one ever defied him (and if they did, they were likely soon dead or at the least incapacitated), so it was satisfying to be the only person who could get away with it. For whatever the reason was. He didn't bother questioning it.

Hartley heard the other man rush to catch up. "Hey! You can't just- walk away!"

He glanced at him, not stopping. "I just _did._ "

Reverb gave him a curious look. "Do you antagonize every villain you run into, or is it just me? Bad life choices, Hart."

"Don't call me that." He scowled. "I don't make a habit of 'running into villains' actually. You're the one who keeps popping up- which is also a bad life choice, honestly, you can't expect me to be afraid of you. Reverb, you took me out for dinner."

"Pfft. Like you were afraid of me that first night." He took a sip of his own coffee. "You're either suicidal, stupid, or very, very brave. I still haven't figured out which."

"I'll let you know when I figure it out myself." They reached the front of Mercury Labs. "Are you going to follow me in, or do I finally get peace?"

The other man tilted his head a little, like Hartley was a problem he couldn't solve. "Hartley." 

"What?"

"Call me Cisco." Before Hartley could ask what just happened, Reve- _Cisco_ was gone.

It was an interesting start to the day... To more than that, because slowly but surely, Cisco became a permanent fixture in his life.

_End flashback._

***

They waited twenty minutes before someone spoke up and said maybe they should go find their errant doppelganger. They, for some strange reason, decided Cisco should be the one to go ("Did you see the way he looks at you?").

It took him ten more minutes to find him. Hartley (who he should be referring to by his moniker, this wasn't their Hartley, but he couldn't seem to remember to do so) had done a good job of hiding himself, managed to find a secluded part of the building, in a lab they no longer used. He didn't look upset anymore. He didn't pay any attention to Cisco as he wandered in, leading him to wonder if he'd even noticed.

"I suppose they sent you to come find me." 

"Uh, yeah." He wasn't sure how to proceed. "Are you alright? Sorry you had to deal with that, Harry likes to push people..."

"I figured that out, yes." Songsmith gave him that look again, one with aching he didn't understand. 

"What happened to you?"

And just like that, his expression went void again. "It doesn't matter," He jumped off the table he'd been sitting on- and note there were perfectly good chairs in the room- and walked over, "Let's go."

***

Hartley brushed off the scattered apologies and inquiries of how he was. There were more important things to see to, he said. They ended up discussing his abilities, the exact circumstances of Zoom's death, and what had become of the city. He answered all the questions with practiced ease, used to doing so. After they'd finally exhausted themselves, at least for the day, the issue of what to do next arose. Was Hartley to go back to his own earth, or stay here? He decided that they could do one night without him, a new evil was hardly going to rise up overnight, and it was settled. Hartley would take up a room at S.T.A.R Labs.

"Are you gonna be okay here?"

"It's not like you're abandoning me, Cisco. If I can protect a city against evil metas I can certainly take care of myself for one night. Quit worrying and go home."

"Well- I was just wondering if you wanted company." Hartley _stopped._ Didn't even breath for a moment, the familiarity of that sentence (the whole exchange, really) catching him completely off guard. He was getting confusion from the other, and went back to rearranging stuff in the room. He thought over the offer- meant to reject it- but... Why shouldn't he accept? All the times he'd wished to have his Cisco back, why not at least take what he could get? It wouldn't be the same, he knew that, but what did he really have to lose anymore?

"If you wouldn't mind staying."

***

There were obvious gaps in Songsmith's story, such as what motivated him to do what he did, but no one dared push. Cisco was perfectly happy with the information they'd gotten, though. And why wouldn't they all be happy? Zoom was gone for good and they had possibly gained a (powerful) new ally. Things had gone really well for once. Caitlin wanted to run tests and learn more about his powers tomorrow. They did have to figure out if Hartley would just stay here or if Cisco would open up the breach again tomorrow, but the former was chosen. Which was fine with him, opening those things was hard.

He didn't expect his hesitant offer to be accepted. It just seemed so out of character. Then again, he didn't know this Hartley as well as he thought he did, they'd only just met. He didn't know why his initial reaction was so drastic, why Hartley stopped so abruptly, but knew it would be futile trying to get an answer. 

A few hours later they were watching movies. Team flash had movie nights every so often, so there was a projector set up. They didn't speak, but sometimes when Cisco looked over he caught him giving him that _look_ again. By the third one in, Hartley had fallen asleep. When he was awake, he had always had a sort of tension in his features, his posture, but now it had all disappeared. Cisco turned it off, quietly getting up so as not to wake the other, and went to put a blanket over him. That's when he noticed the faint glitter around his finger. He hadn't noticed the ring until now, had been more focused on other things, but now his curiosity was piqued. More than it already was, anyway. He desperately wanted answers. 

It would wait until the next day.

***

_One year ago._

"I wish you would just try it, Hart."

"'Try it'? Once you start working for Zoom, you don't get to quit. You know that as well as I do." 

"But I wouldn't have to constantly worry that he'll use you against me somehow! You'd be safer."

Hartley scoffed. "I wouldn't be any safer than I am now. He kills metas who help him _all the time._ " 

"...You're right." Cisco sighed. "I just worry, Hartley."

"Cisco." Hartley said gently, making the other look at him. "I'm fine. I can protect myself. I do have powers."

"Yeah."

"Now go to sleep, you idiot."

_End flashback._

***

The room went silent, still, waiting on bated breath as Barry and Hartley glared at eachother. 

 

"I'm just saying you shouldn't get to choose who lives and dies." And yes, Cisco should've known this would happen. None of them really agreed with the whole anti-hero thing Songsmith had going, but out of them all, Barry was most likely to get into an argument over it. Damn, Earth-two Hartley had only been here two days and got into a fight on each of them. It seemed he had more in common with their Hartley than he knew.

"You don't have the _right."_ Hartley said, tone threatening. No one wanted this to turn out like yesterday's confrontation- Hartley was actually pretty scary when he was using his powers- but no one was stepping in. If he'd been here, Joe might've, but as it was, it was only Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris there to watch. Someone had to do something, so he did the only thing he could.

"Hartley." He said softly, not knowing for sure if it would work. It did. Hartley looked over at him, anger draining, shoulders slumping slightly. "Let's just take a break from this." He shot a quick glare at Barry as he walked the doppelganger out. He loved his friend, but sometimes he made bad decisions.

"You need to stop antagonizing people."

The other man laughed bitterly. "That's the second time you've told me that, Cisco."

"What?" 

"It doesn't matter."

Cisco was done. He kept saying it didn't matter, but anything that could break someone like this... It mattered. And he wasn't going to let him go back to Earth two without trying to help. 

"It _does._ You've got to talk to someone, Hartley."

"You really want to know? Fine. I married goddamn _Reverb,_ and it backfired on me. Or rather, him. Because he was a fucking idiot and his mistakes led him right to death. you want to know why I murdered Zoom? That's why. He destroyed my life. So I thought, why not destroy him? Literally _break his heart?_ " He didn't breath between words layered with malice, gasping by the end. "And I wasn't even sorry about it. He fucking deserved it. Cisco- _My Cisco_ \- didn't deserve to die like that..."

Cisco closed the space between them, pulling him into a hug. There was no other way to respond to that. Hartley tensed, as if he hadn't been touched in a long time, then broke. Anger turned into tears. Cisco held him there until he was done, and when they went back out, he had a new understanding of this version of Hartley.

 

***

He hated himself for breaking down like this. He couldn't stop himself, not once he'd begun to rant. Who could blame him? No one else knew what happened. He'd basically cut off contact with other people, couldn't trust anyone with his secrets. When things are bottled up like that they would always explode sometime. And it happening when he was with his husband's doppelganger? Maybe that was the best way it could have happened, the best way for him to try and heal.

Hartley would have to go back out there and face everything, mend the already fragile relationship with the Flash, but for now, he let go.

***

"I'm sorry, I should'nt have assumed anything. I don't really know what it's like over there or what you've been through." 

"It's fine. I understand why you think it's wrong, I do, but I do what I have to." Hartley said, a serious expression on his face.

"So we're good?" Barry looked hopeful. Hartley didn't have the time to waste on grudges, didn't want to. They were pointless, he'd gotten an apology, and Barry had meant well, so-

"Yes."

***

_"Marry me," He whispered, and Hartley could only nod, unable to speak from absolutely overflowing with happiness, metal sliding smoothly over his finger._

***

"You'll have to come back soon, and try not to get into so many arguments next time." 

Hartley rolled his eyes; it was good-natured, though. They'd made a sort of bond over the three days he'd been on this earth, but he had to go home. He had his own Central city to worry about, as much as he wanted to stay here. Stay with him. It wasn't his Cisco, he had to remember that. That didn't mean he didn't appreciate how easy it was to fall into it, pretend for a little while that it was the same. 

This world wasn't his. It was too light, too unbroken. Mostly untainted by Zoom, without the melancholy and state of constantly waiting for him to reappear, even though he was _dead._ He wouldn't take that light from them, but he could always come back. 

As he bid his new acquaintances goodbye, he felt a little lighter than when he started. Perhaps it was simply visiting a new world, or getting the entire tragedy off his chest, or seeing any variation of _Him_ again... But he had the feeling that while he was still broken, and he would never feel whole again, everything would be okay. And maybe, maybe that was enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, an two hours late, I present to you: My day 3 fic for hartmon week. I'll probably edit a bit in the morning. I wrote half of this dumb thing today and I didn't have time to go through as thoroughly as I'd have liked, but I don't want to wait to post it any longer. This is the longest oneshot I've ever written, wow.
> 
> If you're following [my tumblr](http://cliches-and-coffee.tumblr.com/). you know I spent all my time since the prompts were put up working on this. I was already planning to write it and when I got an excuse to do so...
> 
> Anyway. I hope you liked it?
> 
> Art of his E2 design can be found here: http://amber-flicker.tumblr.com/post/144965001429/so-earth-2-hartley-when-i-started-writing-the


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